Readings for today: Leviticus 9:7-10:20, Mark 4:26-5:20, Psalm 37:30-40, Proverbs 10:6-7
I met a man once who claimed to be possessed by demons. I was serving as a prison chaplain at New Jersey State Prison at the time. The man shared his story with me as I walked the tiers one day. He was a satanist. He had been baptized in blood. He had participated in several ritual killings over the years and had been sentenced to life without parole. He heard voices. Especially at night. Telling him to harm himself. The walls felt like they were closing in on him and he wanted out. He was scared. And he wanted to know if I could help.
I’ve always believed demon possession was a real thing. But it existed for me more as an abstract concept than a concrete reality. Meeting this man made it real. As I listened to him describe in detail his life as a satanist, it became obvious he had suffered tremendous emotional and spiritual trauma. He would need a lot of help from a variety of different sources to recover. It would be a very long road. He and I read the story from Mark 5 together. He could identify with the man living among the tombs. A man who cried out and cut himself and fought the voices inside his head. A man who was cut off from community. Cut off from any relationships. A man who was all alone. Anxious. Afraid. We talked about what it would be like for him to meet Jesus. To sit at His feet. To listen to His voice. To believe in His name. To be set free. We had several meetings unpacking this story together. Slowly but surely he began to believe. Began to see himself differently. Began to experience the freedom Jesus offers. He also began working with a psychologist and processing his emotional trauma. It wasn’t easy. There were a lot of setbacks. I remember the one of the biggest barriers for him was baptism. After he gave his life to Christ, he knew he needed to be baptized but struggled with the memories it evoked. He had almost drowned in his satanic baptism as they purposefully used the experience to traumatize him. Eventually, he was able to take that step and the freedom he experienced was profound and life-changing.
One of the greatest tricks the devil has ever pulled is to convince the world he doesn’t exist. Especially the post-Enlightenment, materialistic western world in which we live in the United States. Life consists of several dimensions. Physical. Emotional. Intellectual. Spiritual. Jesus calls us to integrate each of these dimensions wholistically under His Lordship. Love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. The enemy seeks to dis-integrate our lives. Set these dimensions in opposition to one another. Pit our feelings against our bodies. Our bodies against our minds. Our minds against our spirits. The result is chaos. Personally. Relationally. Communally. Thankfully, Jesus isn’t afraid to enter the chaos of our lives. He alone can calm the storm. He alone can settle our souls. He alone can set us free.
Readings for tomorrow: Leviticus 11-12, Mark 5:21-43, Psalms 38, Proverbs 10:8-9